Upcoming Events

• Tuesday, March 17 - 11th grade program in memory of ICJA parent Dr. Gail Darlow '93, z"l

• Wednesday, March 18 - PACT for sophomores

• Friday, March 20 - Freshman Fridayton - Click here to register (Email Mr. Yona Bildner to discuss financial assistance)

• Wednesday, March 25 - PACT for freshmen

• Thursday, March 26 - ICJA Takes the Stage - Click here to register

• Monday, March 30 - Friday, April 10 - Passover Break

• Monday, April 13 - School Resumes

Thursday, April 30 is Grandparents Day!

Click here to register.

Parents: we need your help. If you have not already done so, please provide your child(ren)'s grandparent(s) contact information here.

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Mrs. Lynn Kraft received the Hartman Family Foundation Educator of the Year Award.

On Wednesday evening this week, ICJA's popular Tanach Department Chair, Mechanechet, and teacher Mrs. Lynn Kraft was recognized for her excellence in teaching as she received the 1st Place Educator of the Year award from the Hartman Family Foundation.

A packed crowd of teachers and administrators from Chicago-area schools, and their supporters, gathered together at Ateres Ayala to recognize Mrs. Kraft and the other fabulous ATT teachers who were honored.

We are so proud of you, Mrs. Kraft. Yasher Kochecha!

Students welcomed a distinguished guest lecturer.

On Thursday this week, sophomore girls in Mrs. Lizi Martin's honors Tanach class and junior boys in her honors Chumash class welcomed ICJA parent and Abrams Jewish Thought and Culture College Professor at the University of Notre Dame Prof. Tzvi Novick.

Prof. Novick offered fascinating and scholarly perspectives on concepts students are learning about in class. Sophomore girls are learning Sefer Shmuel: Prof. Novick described ancient parallels with the Torah's descriptions of Israel's battle with the Plishtim contained in the Sefer.

Junior boys are learning Sefer Devarim: Prof. Novick discussed the development of halacha throughout ancient Middle Eastern history and the ways that some ancient Jewish sects changed halacha in surprising new ways.

Thank you, Prof. Novick, for your in-depth, fascinating lectures, and for engaging so deeply with students' questions and insights.

Students challenged themselves this week - like every week - in a range of ICJA clubs.

Every week, ICJA students follow their interests in a range of student-led clubs: pushing their boundaries, deepening their connections, and gaining new skills and knowledge. Here are a few pictures from just some ICJA club meetings this week.

On Wednesday morning, ICJA's Nach Yomi Club completed Sefer Yehoshua. Junior Kinneret Finegold shared a thoughtful dvar Torah on Yehoshua as the club made their siyum. Students then celebrated with a special breakfast sponsored by Rabbi Matanky.

Kol hakavod to everyone who participated in this meaningful milestone!

On Tuesday morning students gathered at ICJA's Israel Advocacy Club breakfast meeting to deepen their knowledge about Israel and current events.

Senior Leah Jacobs (pictured standing) gave a multimedia presentation on the American and Israeli war against Iran, incorporating videos and statements by political leaders and ordinary citizens. 

Club members also reminded everyone who is eligible to vote of the importance of voting in the upcoming elections to make sure that Israel has strong supporters in Washington. 

On Wednesday, members of ICJA's Creative Writing Club met to read their recent work and provide constructive feedback to their peers.

Students read short essays and discussed working on different types of literature in future weeks, including poetry and short stories.

Pictured above: club president sophomore Zachary Kupietzky and sophomore Binyamin Friedman

Pictured above: sophomore Akiva Joseph

Pictured above: freshman Eve Novick

Students welcomed Mrs. Rifi Bleichman '03 for a special end to their unit learning about the Shema prayer.

Juniors in Mrs. Alise Gold's Tanach class have just finished a unit learning about the Shema and Vehavta tefillot.

To celebrate the conclusion of this important unit, this week they welcomed ICJA parent and professional artist Mrs. Rifi Bleichman '03 to their class to lead a resin mezuzah making session.

Mrs. Bleichman showed students how to coat mezuzah cases with resin, then arrange dried flower petals and gold leaf to form exquisite artistic mezuzah holders. It was a beautiful and creative way to conclude their learning, and one that will stay with students in years to come.

(Pictured above: Masha Perkins with Mrs. Bleichman)

Pictured above: Ilya Friedman, Orli Appel, and Faigie Bock

Pictured above: Maya Kutliroff and Orli Lubin

Pictured above: Evie Weiss and Goldie Boyarskiy

Students learned the Mishneh Torah.

Sophomores in Rabbi Menachem Rosenbaum's honors Tanach class spent time this week reviewing Hilchut Deot in the Mishneh Torah.

Students discussed Rambam's laws about criticizing or rebuking another person, and discussed examples in the Tanach of each rule.

Pictured above: Avi Friedman, Jonah Krule, and Yis Burgher

Pictured above: Caleb Shpayher, Asher Segal, and Zachary Kupietzky

Pictured above: Menachem Steinberg and Ari Shyovitz

Students discussed logical fallacies.

Juniors in Mrs. Tirza Kahan's AP Language Class this week discussed logical fallacies and their uses in writing and speech.

Students took turns discussing different logical fallacies, discussing why they are misleading and providing examples of how they're commonly used. This fun unit helped students identify lazy thinking and literary devices, improving their own writing and reading comprehension in the process.

Pictured above: Eliana Levitt providing examples of clichéd thinking

Pictured above: Levi Madoff discussing the use of half-truths in literature

Pictured above: Livia Baronofsky explaining examples of black and white thinking

Pictured above: Gabriel Nudman speaking about the use of reductive fallacies

Seniors documented biases in various AI programs.

Seniors in Rabbi Binyamin Segal's senior elective on AI have been discussing the ways different AI programs embody biases on various issues.

This week, students asked various AI models different questions, such as for dinner suggestions, and noted the ways their answers varied, then discussed the innate biases that shaped each program's answers and why.

Pictured above: Miriam Falk with Rabbi Segal

Pictured above: Dani Allswang

Pictured above: Ezra Mauer

Seniors calculated the net torque of different objects.

Students in Mr. Allen Sears's AP Physics class broke into small groups this week, calculating the net torque and center of gravity of different moving objects.

Afterwards, students presented their findings to their peers, explaining how they arrived at each set of conclusions.

(Pictured here: juniors Zahava Volkov and Ariella Titievsky)

Pictured above: juniors Raya Volkov and Zahava Volkov, senior Aiden Rich, and junior Megill Hameiri, with Mr. Sears

Pictured above: juniors Caleb Novick and Archer Gradstein

Pictured above: junior William Moscovitch and senior Natan Miller with Mr. Sears

25 seniors were inducted into the NHS this week.

On Tuesday evening, parents, grandparents, teachers, and staff gathered at school to watch as 25 ICJA seniors were inducted into the National Honor Society – Torah Chapter.

This honor recognizes excellence in four categories: scholarship, leadership, service, and character.

Yasher koach to our newest NHS members: seniors Yedidya Bechhofer, Yair Bell, Rivky Belsh, Penina Benjamin, Gabriel Boshes, Elisheva Deangelis, Miriam Falk, Zachary Fogel, Eli Fretzin, Esther Fretzin, Amichai Gavant, Yehuda Goldstein, Caley Gordon, Dina Gottlieb, Noam Hellman, Yaffa Hoberman, Leah Jacobs, Devorah Kaplowitz, Macks Kroll, Ezra Mauer, Natan Miller, Ariella Pullin, Benjamin Rosenburg, Avraham Rubin, and Jonah Strahlberg.

Pictured above: Leah Jacobs, Penina Benjamin, Rivka Belsh, and Caley Gordon

Pictured above: Yaffa Hoberman delivering remarks about Character

Pictured above: Jonah Strahlberg, Zachary Fogel, Benjamin Rosenburg, Natan Miller, Yehuda Goldstein, and Yedidya Bechhofer

For the first time, the Wrestling Aces are sending a wrestler to the State Championships.

Last Sunday, sophomore Ari Shyovitz placed 2nd at the Frosh Soph Sectionals at Evanston Township High School.

In doing so, Ari became the first ever Ida Crown wrestler to qualify for a state championship in a competitive championship.

The State Championship is being held on Shabbat, so Ari cannot participate - instead we are celebrating his qualification as the huge honor it is.

We are so proud of you, Ari, and of the entire Wrestling Aces team and coaches! 

Freshmen boys and their relatives gathered at Ohel Tefillah last Sunday.

Last Sunday, freshmen boys and their relatives gathered together at Ohel Tefillah as part of our Veshinantam Levanecha program. Each Sunday, freshmen and their relatives come together at Chicago-area shuls for davening, learning, breakfast, and camaraderie.

This weekly program is run by award-winning Tanach teacher and freshman boys' rebbe Rabbi Louis Fliegelman.

Contact Rabbi Louis Fliegelman to learn more or to join these weekly visits.

This week we caught up with ICJA's newest Hebrew teacher and asked her a few questions about herself.

This year, Mrs. Moria Kohanchi's energy has infused ICJA, as she brings excitement to her Hebrew classes. We caught up with Mrs. Kohanchi and asked her a few questions about herself.

Where did you grow up? Where do you live now?

I grew up in Yishuv Peduel, in the Shomron.

Years ago, I did my shlichut in New York. I went to a Pesach program in California, and there I met my husband, Eliyahu, who's from Skokie. He moved to Israel to study, and always said if we get married, we'll have a crazy story to tell. Well, we did get married! After three years in Israel, we moved to the Chicago area in 2020.

Today we live in Skokie with our children: Lea, who's five; Avigayil, who's three; and our one year old twins Libby and Eitan.

How did you decide to go into teaching?

I didn't at first! All my family are teachers. My mother is the principal of Amana (a girls boarding school) in Kfar Saba. All my siblings are teachers. My dad teaches in the hesder yeshiva Eretz Hatzvi in Peduel. I said I'll be the first one in the family who's not a teacher.

When we came here to Chicago, I wanted to get to know the community. I have no family in America, and it was important for me to meet people. I began working at Hillel Torah, then came to Ida Crown this year.

What do you love about working here at ICJA?

I like the relationships I have with students here. The students are really nice, and we have great talks.

Do you have any hobbies?

Yes. I enjoy playing basketball, and am in a local women's league. I also like playing the guitar and singing.

Is there anything that most people don't know about you that you'd like to share?

Let's see - I've been skydiving twice, once in Israel and once in New York. I loved it.

What advice do you have for ICJA students?

I want students to remember that no matter how stressful school might feel right now, one day they'll look back and think of these days as the best time of their life. They should keep that in mind now.

In addition to many thousands of physical books and journals, ICJA's Learning Commons contains tens of thousands of online books, journal articles, and other resources, including subscriptions to newspapers such as The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, the Encyclopedia Britannica, and more. Students are able to access these resources through our portal.

Please stop by our librarian Mrs. Steinberg's desk in the Learning Commons or email her at  librarian@icja.org to pick up your updated passwords to access our online material. ICJA's subscriptions are available at icja.libguides.com/home.

Watch our new 2025-6 Prospective Student Video!

Know a student who would like to learn more about ICJA? Send them our new 2025-6 Prospective Student Video! Click on the image below to watch.

Review ICJA on Niche.com and enter a sweepstakes.

Help let people know how fabulous ICJA is! Whether you're a parent, student, teacher, or alumnus/alumna, the popular school ranking website Niche.com wants to hear from you. Plus, every person who reviews ICJA (or any other school) is automatically entered into a monthly $1,000 sweepstakes by Niche.com. For more information and to leave a review, click here.

Do you have school-related news you'd like to see in this newsletter? Let us know!

If you have exciting ICJA-related news to share about classes, sports, clubs, or other projects, please tell us! Send news items and/or photos to Dr. Yvette Miller, Director of Communications at ymiller@icja.org. Your items can enhance our newsletter and ICJA's social media presence.

Parents: there are still slots to sign up to supervise lunch ball! This is a fun way to earn Give-Get. Parents are present in the gym during 5th and 6th periods while students play basketball, overseeing this fun daily event.

Volunteers earn $30 in Give-Get credit each day.

Join our Alumni Facebook Group

We are excited to announce that we have a private Facebook group called “ICJA Official Alumni Page.” It is a space for alumni from all graduating years to join. We will periodically post alumni reunions, events, fundraising opportunities, information about ICJA today, and news.

We are proud to have some families with us for four generations. If you are an alum, please join the group HERE and be sure to share the link with your family, friends, and fellow graduates. You can also share this link: https://www.facebook.com/share/UeTsqg16DDx4JHGK/?mibextid=hubsqH. Thanks for staying connected to ICJA!

Please reach out to Ilana Levy at ilevy@icja.org if you have any questions about this new effort.

The annual ICJA Israel Connect directory is out.

Last summer, ICJA gave its Class of '25 alumni the third edition of our directory listing ICJA alumni who live in Israel and have graciously offered to open their homes to recent ICJA grads who are currently spending a gap year in Israel.

Thank you to the many alumni who have reached out to us, offering to host.

If you have any questions or would like to update our contact information to help recent ICJA grads obtain a copy, please contact Dr. Yvette Miller, ICJA Director of Communications, at ymiller@icja.org.

We are still taking submissions from alumni who are willing to host, to include in future copies of this directory. Please contact Dr. Miller to be included.

Inspiring bnei and bnot Torah to thrive in the modern world

ICJA is an affiliate of the Associated Talmud Torahs and a partner with JUF in serving our community.